prison. In Spain, he joined a military unit fighting the French. He was involved in numerous actions, including the capture of Bayonne in February 1814. He continued serving in the army, and in 1820 he was named deputy to the Cortes (parliament) for Michoacán. Return to Mexico On learning of the successful conclusion of Mexico's war of independence, he returned to that country in 1822. He entered the Mexican army with the rank of brigadier general and was a deputy to the Constituent Congress. He fought against Emperor Agustín de Iturbide as an adherent of the Plan de Casa Mata (December 2, 1822). The effect of the Plan de Casa Mata was the abdication of Iturbide on March 19, 1823. Supreme Executive Power After Iturbide's abdication, the Congress chose a triumvirate consisting of Generals Pedro Celestino Negrete, Nicolás Bravo and Guadalupe Victoria to exercise executive power until presidential elections could be held. However, Bravo and Victoria were absent, and Michelena and Licenciado Miguel Domínguez were chosen as temporary substitutes. Michelena was the leader of the triumvirate while he held the position (1822–24). He was in effect acting president of Mexico. He voided the Treaty of Córdoba and the Plan of Iguala. With the return of Bravo, Michelena turned over the office to him, on January 31, 1824. He was subsequently nominated as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain. He created the Mason "Rito Yorkino". Later career and death He traveled to Rome, Greece, Palestine and Arabia. From Arabia he brought coffee plants, which he grew in his hacienda near Uruapan. This was the first successful coffee cultivation in Mexico. Later he was a delegate to the Congress of America in Panama, called by Simón Bolívar. He was of the federalist party, opposed to one unitary national government, which did not stop him from serving as minister of war in the national cabinet (April 24, 1837 to October 19, 1837) during the Centralist Republic of Mexico. He was also governor of Michoacán. He was a Mason, helping to establish the York Rite in Mexico. He died in 1852 in his native city of Valladolid. See also List of heads of state of Mexico References "Michelena, José Mariano," Enciclopedia de México, v. 9. Mexico City: 1987. External links 1772 births 1852 deaths Mexican generals People of the Mexican War of Independence People from Morelia History of Mexico Mexican Secretaries of Defense